Colleges & Universities

Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50 billion in damages. Experts agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years.

Our University is 'dedicated' to sustainability and Indigenization, yet is invested in the fossil fuel industry. If we are actually committed to sustainability and building respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples and nations then the University would not be heavily invested in fossil fuel industries who benefit from the destruction of the planet. The University and the administration need to step up NOW, TODAY, and make a change. It's not good enough to be the second to last university in Canada who chooses to take climate action seriously.
Students - Universities should be leaders in combatting the major social problems of our time – such as climate change and social justice – not continuing to prop up and support outdated, dirty fossil fuel energy that harms communities. Students are already leading; universities need to get on board!
Divesting from fossil fuels creates an opportunity to reinvest in clean energy that strengthens communities and builds a 21st-century economy, creating good new jobs. Universities are supposed to be preparing us for our future, but instead, they’re contributing to its destruction; these hypocritical actions need to end. Remaining invested in fossil fuels puts a stain on our school’s reputation - will we be proud to be U of S alumni with a degree that is soaked in oil? Or could we be proud of our education, institution, and administrators who took a stand as climate leaders who lead the way?
Faculty - We ask you to stand with us. You teach us about sustainability and climate change, the wrongs of wrecking the environment, the desperate need to build respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, yet work within an institution who says one thing but acts against those morals and values. Please stand with us - we want to see accountability from our institution and we ask you for your support.

It is recognised across the world that global temperatures must remain no more than 2°C higher than in pre-industrial times if climate change is not to destroy our entire way of life. For this to happen, study after study has demonstrated that 80% of currently known fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground. This view is endorsed by mainstream elements of society, from Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, to the United Nations. Companies like BP and Shell – and the University’s investments in them—are not part of a sustainable future, no matter how they, or the University, might pretend otherwise. Small investments in renewables are far outweighed by the catastrophic impacts of continued oil extraction. In universities around this country and the world, divestment is denying these companies their moral acceptability –. All moral and financial arguments point to the same thing – divestment from fossil fuels.

Climate scientists agree that the record breaking weather events are being caused by increases in global temperatures (2). These temperature increases have largely been the result of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. 60-80% of the existing coal, oil, and gas reserves should be left unburned (3) in order to limit global warming to less than 2°C, as signed in the Paris Climate Agreement (4). Anything above this threshold drastically increases the risks of more climate disasters.
We therefore call on Lewis & Clark College to immediately freeze any new investments in the most carbon intensive fossil fuel industries, especially those on the Carbon Underground 200’s list (5) of biggest oil and gas companies, and to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include public equities and corporate bonds in these industries. With increased transparency and in collaboration with students, Lewis & Clark College should revise the Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) investment policy in order to meet these divestment goals. We believe such action on behalf of Lewis & Clark College will not only be a moral decision for the well-being of the planet, but also a sound decision for our institution's financial portfolio. The recent fluctuations in fossil fuel prices make these investments unreliable. The stocks themselves are also being overvalued; the fossil fuel industry is considering their aforementioned unburnable fossil fuels as assets, when in fact they are “stranded assets” under the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Divestment from fossil fuels will have adverse financial effects on the industry and will encourage a larger cultural shift in which these investments themselves carry a powerful stigma. As more and more people continue to view coal, oil and gas negatively, through movements like divestment, this will pressure these fossil fuel companies to transition to clean energy. As of December 2016, 688 institutions worldwide have divested over five trillion dollars from fossil fuels (6). Lewis & Clark College, a pioneer of sustainability, should participate in this significant global movement.
(1) https://www.lclark.edu/live/files/22998-list-of-managers-may-31-2016pdf
(2) http://www.livescience.com/10325-living-warmer-2-degrees-change-earth.html
(3) https://phys.org/news/2013-04-unburnable-fossil-fuels-investors-stranded.html
(4) http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php
(5) http://fossilfreeindexes.com/research/the-carbon-underground/
(6) https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/
Global_Divestment_Report_2016.pdf

According to the most recent projections, the world is headed on a course to global warming of 4 degrees by the end of this century if we carry on emitting CO2 at current rates. [1]
It is clear that fossil fuels are not the way forward, and that we must end our addiction to carbon and find sustainable energy alternatives before it is too late. Despite this, our governments and institutions continue to invest vast sums in companies extracting oil and gas, giving them huge public subsidies that have helped to make them some of the most profitable companies in the world.
The University of Sussex is renowned as a progressive institution, and we believe that the University should lead by example and join dozens of other universities, religious institutions and local governments across the world that have already committed to investing its money ethically, and going fossil free. Collectively, we have the opportunity to send an important signal to our governments and the private sector about the urgent moral and financial imperative of phasing out fossil fuels.

Students on campus are concerned about the current state of our climate, and want our University to mirror the values of St. Cloud State students. Aside from benefiting our climate as a whole, we firmly believe this divestment will showcase the commitment St. Cloud State to being a progressive, innovative and conscious campus.

Climate change is accelerating. We are witnessing the increasing impacts of a warming planet more and more consistently; in this last year alone our country experienced record-breaking heat, droughts, and hurricanes, which impacted hundreds of thousands of people and cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars. Hurricane Sandy alone caused $50bn in damages. Experts agree that global warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels will continue to accelerate and intensify these tragic climate disasters. The scientific consensus is clear and overwhelming; we cannot safely burn even half of global fossil-fuel reserves without dangerously warming the planet for several thousand years.
As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on Suffolk University to immediately freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. We believe such action on behalf of Suffolk University will not only be a sound decision for our institution's financial portfolio, but also for the wellbeing of its current and future graduating classes, who deserve the opportunity to graduate with a future not defined by climate chaos.

The University of Nottingham’s (UoN) investment policy states that investment in companies which demonstrate ‘’explicit environmental damage’’ will not take place [1]. Yet, the fossil fuel companies Royal Dutch Shell, BP, BHP Billiton, Total and Centrica make up 11.08% of UoN’s portfolio and the total market value of the University’s investment in fossil fuels is £3,952,351 as of 31 July 2014.
Investing in fossil fuel companies is not achieving the university’s aim “to act in an environmentally responsible way.’’ [2] BP as an example have shut down its solar business [3] and invested only 2% of profits into alternative energy between 2005 and 2015 [4]. It has not made new targets for alternative energy investments. Shockingly, BP were responsible for the 11 deaths and 4.9 million barrels of oil leaked in the Gulf of Mexico’s ecosystem. [5]
Fossil Fuel exploration is needless. There is more proven oil and gas reserves than can be safely burnt without exceeding a global average temperature rise of 2 degrees, the widely regarded dangerous threshold. Burning fossil fuels contributes directly to climate change [6], leading to water scarcity [7, UoN research] as well as increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Arctic Ice thickness has also decreased 40 percent since the 1960s, endangering arctic wildlife. By divesting in fossil fuels, the university will help prevent the numerous effects of climate change, increase its reputation as a leading ‘Green University’ and make us as students feel proud that our education doesn’t come at an environmental cost.
UoN did well in the People and Planets comprehensive sustainable university league table and ranked 42nd. A move to more ethical investments would improve the universities ranking. The University of Glasgow received recognition [8] for their pledge of divestment from fossil fuels. A similar pledge will, set a positive example for the hundreds of divestment campaigns across the world cementing UoN as a leading global university.
[1] https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/governance/documents/investment-policy.pdf
[2] http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/about/documents/environmentalstrategy200910.pdf
[3] http://www.bp.com/en/global/alternative-energy/our-businesses/solar-power.html
[4] http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/sustainability/group-reports/BP_Sustainability_Review_2013.pdf
[5] www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13123036
[6] https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_spm.pdf
[7] http://nottingham.ac.uk/globalfoodsecurity/strands/climatechangeandenvironmentalimpact/index.aspx
[8] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels

The world has committed to keeping global warming below 2 degrees. To achieve this, over 80% of the proven fossil fuel reserves will have to stay in the ground (1) - we simply cannot afford to continue to invest in this industry.
However, the arguments against fossil fuel investments are not just environmental. Economically, it is clearly unsustainable to rely on non-renewable resources. The price of oil is already volatile and is a significant source of financial risk (2) whereas, in contrast, low-carbon investments are becoming increasingly profitable (3).
Divestment is a proven, powerful tool for people to collaborate and directly effect large scale change. It was, for example, a key strategy in the ending of South African apartheid and the stigmatisation of the tobacco industry, and will be a key player in the global transition to sustainable energy sources.
The University of Bath has fossil fuel holdings totalling half a million pounds including over £100,000 in Shell alone (4). Our call is for the university to divest these holdings and publicly commit to never investing in them again. The activities of these companies are completely incompatible with the university’s own mission (5) and is at odds with much of the work on campus, from the research at the CSCT (6) and the IPR (7) to the discussions at the I-SEE (8).
The campaign here at Bath is part of the wider Fossil Free movement – an accumulation of grassroots campaigns at a diverse range of respected institutions around the world, from Le Louvre museum in Paris to the University of Cambridge here in the UK. A quarter of universities in the UK have already committed to divesting, and Bath should be proud to join their ranks. Many of these forward-thinking universities had far more invested (9), so what we are demanding is not out of reach.
The wider statement that the University of Bath will make when it divests will be significant and will extend far beyond the removal of the raw finances. In divesting from fossil fuels, the University will be:
- Showing solidarity with communities already bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change, most of whom have contributed little to the problem;
- Helping to reclaim our democracy from the power of fossil fuel lobbying groups (10);
- Contributing to the stigmatisation of the fossil fuel industry: “the most far-reaching threat to fossil fuel companies” (11);
- Influencing public discourse on climate change: leading the way for other UK universities and policy makers, too.
It is time for the University of Bath to realise how incompatible a safe climate future is with these fossil fuel relationships, and to take meaningful action to go fossil free.
This petition for a Fossil Free Bath complements Bath SU policy (12) voted through by 60% of students in early 2016.
References
(1) http://math.350.org/
(2) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/03/bank-of-england-warns-of-financial-risk-from-fossil-fuel-investments
(3) https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/13/renewable-energy-investment-fossil-fuel-divestment-investor-summit-climate-change
(4) FOI
(5) http://www.bath.ac.uk/about/values/ethics/code-of-ethics.html
(6) http://www.bath.ac.uk/csct/research/energy-water.html
(7) http://www.bath.ac.uk/ipr/policy-briefs/reports/climate-change.html
(8) http://www.bath.ac.uk/i-see/
(9) https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/08/glasgow-becomes-first-university-in-europe-to-divest-from-fossil-fuels
(10) http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-industry-influence-in-the-u-s/
(11) http://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/research-programmes/stranded-assets/SAP-divestment-report-final.pdf
(12) https://www.bathstudent.com/pageassets/policy-governance/2015-16-4-Fossil-Free-Bath.pdf